"I grew up in Los Angeles, but Hollywood always felt so far away from me. So to be here standing in this room today is really incredible. I also just want to again recognize and honor the sex worker community. I will continue to support and be an ally. I also just want to recognize the thoughtful, intelligent, beautiful, breathtaking work of my fellow nominees. I’m honored to be recognized alongside all of you. This is a dream come true."

"The whole film, my character has been covering up her emotions with a hardness, not letting anybody see her crack, so I found myself also feeling like that during filming. I was never emotional, and me as Mikey, I’m a very emotional person. For the last scene, I was almost shaking going into the car because I didn’t know what that would feel like—because I had been feeling the same way as my character for so long."

"Any uncomfortability or pain or difficulty I felt is temporary because that’s just how it is. I welcome those feelings because it means it’s something real that I’m able to show. The film will be forever —any sadness or pain I feel is temporary, and it goes away. And I’m lucky. This is my dream job."

"I like playing women I identify with"

"I think being kind is actually harder than people like to admit"

"Being uncomfortable with the human body is colonization/brainwashing"

"We’ve seen stories so many times that when something is actually surprising, it’s the best gift I think you can get"

"in order for someone to be on the top, someone has to be on the bottom. It's oppressive by nature"

"It’s amazing to see the extent to which we’re influenced by our appearance"

"I sincerely believe beauty is to be found inside us"

"Typically white people have the story, and any kind of minority is like adding that pop of red or fun purse or pair of shoes to jazz up an outfit. These people are accents that make things funny, weird, or dramatic"

"My parents didn’t become who they are because anything was handed to them, and they didn’t raise a child who expected something to be handed to her, either"

"Why aren’t women starring in more films? It’s because the men are writing them and are the ones cutting the checks. We can’t blame them, I personally don’t think. We need to take that extra step"

"The fact that I was like, ‘Should I not have worn that?’…. No, I do what I want to do, and I make what I want to make, and if I start being afraid of what other people are going to say or think, I’m no longer doing my job as an artist. I’m not experiencing the world and putting that into art. I’m walking on eggshells. Fuck that. So, I needed to take a minute"

"My feelings don’t get hurt if the idea doesn’t come across or the idea doesn’t work"

"Creativity is like this invisible thread that you find, and then knowing I’ve got the thread, I’ve just got to keep following it. It’s going to show up, and that confidence is where the good shit is"

"I’m another human being, floating around out there in the universe and figuring it out, too. If seeing that brings you comfort, or gives you hope, or makes you feel anything— makes you feel not al􏰀one — if that is being a role model, then I’m happy to do that."

"I’m proud of where I come from. Now it’s nice to be in a place where I feel like when people ask me about my parents, I’m not like, ‘Let’s not talk about that.’ I’m like, ‘They’re awesome. I’m grateful to be their child. And I’m also my own human being"

"There have definitely been moments in my life where I’ve felt like I needed to soften my edges in some way"

"And I don’t really know how or why I’d play the hero’s girlfriend, someone with no point of view. I wouldn’t know what to do with the part. There’s no humanity in that kind of character"

"Every time someone, but I’m thinking specifically of women, tries something they’re not sure they can do, they’re taking a risk that requires courage"

"In the end, it’s all about self confidence. When you have it, there’s no need to overdo anything – you just have to choose the right colours, the right cuts and the right fabrics"

"You can tell when someone is driven by labels. If something is couture they think it’s important and wear it and sometimes make a terrible fashion mistake. People are shocked that I know so little about designers. I know the big ones because my grandmother wore them or they’ve been around forever. I know you because you’re my best friend, but I don’t know much about the fashion world except for when I like something, I like it."

"I do believe that it's something women have the power to do, but I do think we have yet been given the opportunity within society to actually exercise it on a massive scale. That is the reason why it’s open-ended. And I appreciate what you're saying about wanting to know and saying, "Okay, what does she do with this power?" But I wanted to really leave that question open. Is she ending a cycle or is she continuing a cycle? Is it the idea of the oppressed becoming the oppressor, or does everything change now because the woman is in charge and power is this entity?"

"I think I'm lucky having parents that have been in show business for a while and they don't care about the shiny stuff so much. They raised me in that way– to stay grounded, not to chase the shiny pretty things."

"I see the human in everyone and everything"

"There’s a difference between being cocky and knowing to trust that you know what you’re doing"

"Humor trumps everything and is probably number one. I think it trumps being politically correct"

"I needed someone to say, “You’re a woman now. Dress like a woman"

"I’m a human being. I want to fucking defend myself"

"Everyone learns differently. Everyone hears things differently. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses and insecurities, and you have to learn how to support them and what they need to hear. Some actors really need to hear ‘Good job’ after a take. Some actors don’t care. It’s really understanding that"

"Where women are concerned, there’s a lot of pressure to do everything perfectly, all the time. So when we go out of our comfort zone, it’s no small thing."

"The fact that people don’t think what they say affects a celebrity because [they’re] not a person to them is crazy"

"Sometimes we can’t show up, and that’s okay as long as we know how to communicate that we love those people."

"I also really wanted to honor that generation of women that really were made to feel like, "This is how it is. Deal with it.""

"my instinct is always to say [to myself], ‘It’s not mine"

"I was incredibly privileged"

"I’ve always felt very in touch with my masculine side"

"The point of being alive is to experience life and play with it"

"all the scripts that were being sent were about the first Black woman to make a muffin or something. Even though those stories are important to tell, I also want to open things up for myself as an artist"

"If the story is exciting, it can get me on board even if I’m offered a small part, because I want to contribute to stories that I feel are important to tell"

"I'm now of the mindset that I just want to do maybe one movie a year, if that. You know, there's so much out there, and you keep seeing the same faces saying the same things over and over. I just am so sick of it that, it makes me not want to go see movies when you know everything. How much they cost, how much people are paid, what the story is, the cast, everything. There's no mystery anymore."

"There is an assumption when you’re young that things don’t mean as much or aren’t as painful. But first love is the most devastating of all. Society will always look down on teenagers – parents and teachers don’t seem to pay enough attention to kids when they are at their most painful age. Most of the great writers were outcasts, especially the beats. That’s why Lawrence Ferlinghetti is such a hero, because he was the first person to get those artists published."

"[My parents] are my favourite people. They were so admirable in the sense of what they chose to do, as opposed to what they could have done. They were very educated, they could have taken jobs and settled down, but they followed their hearts. They did what they loved. Writing together. Running the museum. Activism. I really revere them. Also, they are archivists, and I definitely inherited that gene."

"Everyone evolves – except for maybe Beetlejuice maybe... He's like endgame for me. I totally want them [Beetlejuice and Lydia] to be truly together! It's [makes a gesture indicating "crazy"] I know, but..."

"...I've grown to love and respect this little smartass girl that wouldn't give me an inch years ago, because she's matured too."

"I've learned that it's OK to be flawed, that life can be messy, that some days you glide and some days you fall, but most important, that there are no secret answers out there. When you finally accept that it's OK not to have answers and it's OK not to be perfect, you realize that feeling confused is a normal part of what it is to be a human being."

"A lot of my generation think it’s politically incorrect to like beautiful things. They’re into camp, but it’s not for me. Working on The Age of Innocence spoiled me, because everything I looked at was a work of art."

"Deport all these terrorist supporting goons. Islam has destroyed Muslim countries and then they come here and destroy minds. They know they are liars. Twisted justifications. May they meet their fate."

"I think awareness is probably a better word. Because if you are imbalanced, you’re aware enough to see it and to correct it."